Children's Literature for Adult ESL Literacy. ERIC Digest.

Children's literature, widely used with elementary English as a second
language (ESL) students (Heald-Taylor, 1989; Smallwood, 1991), can be adapted to
teach literacy skills to adult ESL learners as well. Children's books often have
captivating story lines and beautiful illustrations, and many have universal
appeal and address mature themes and topics as well. Children's literature,
then, is not just for kids! Its successful use in adult ESL programs is enhanced
by age-sensitive book selections, clear class presentations, and the creative
development of related lesson and unit plans.

From its strong foundation as a way to develop literacy in elementary schools
(Johnson & Louis, 1987), children's literature has recently become
incorporated into family literacy programs, in which parents learn to read in
order to transmit literacy patterns to their children (Handel & Goldsmith,
1990; Sharp, 1991). This trend is now spreading to the newly developing ESL
family literacy programs (Terdy & Berkowitz, 1989) and general adult ESL
programs (Flickinger, 1984).

BENEFITS OF CHILDREN'S LITERATURE

Adult learners can
benefit in many ways from reading children's literature. The stories are
contextually whole and inherently meaningful. They provide an authentic source
of comprehensible English language input and can lower inhibitions, or the "affective filter" (Krashen, 1982). Reading aloud to learners is effective
during the silent period of second language (L2) acquisition (Dulay, Burt, & Krashen, 1982), because they can just listen and focus on understanding, without
needing to produce language. After a book has been enjoyed and understood,
numerous speaking, reading, and writing opportunities can emerge. The teacher
can adjust reading materials to learners' interests, needs, and levels of L2
proficiency by carefully selecting appropriate books and by modifying the
language during oral readings. Picture books offer the advantage of
illustrations to explain much of the vocabulary. Repeated patterns provide an
additional aid for language learning.

BOOK SELECTION

Thousands of children's books line library
shelves and fill whole bookstores. However, not all are equally successful with
L2 learners in a classroom setting, and those appropriate for ESL adults form an
even smaller subset. Therefore, book selection is critical, and gaining
knowledge of the selection process is more important than obtaining a list of
books. Most of the criteria below relate to picture books, usually 28-32 pages
long. These are useful for ESL classes because they provide illustrations paired
with enough fairly simple text for classroom reading exposure, yet their length
allows ample time for rereadings and extension activities.

Ask the following questions about each book as you peruse the bookshelves.

1. "Does it relate to your curriculum objectives?" These can include broad
social, cultural, or political topics, specific life skill competencies,
vocabulary groupings, or grammatical structures. For example, "How Many Days to
America?" can generate discussion about the acceptance of undocumented boat
people in the United States; "I Read Symbols" coordinates well with units on
traffic and transportation; "The Gingerbread Man" reinforces the past tense.

2. "Does it include adults? Does it have some adult protagonists, address
mature themes, or carry universal messages?" One needs to look carefully and
critically for these qualities, but many fine choices exist. For example, "El
Chino" tells of a young Chinese man pursuing his dream to become a bullfighter.
"It Could Always Be Worse," a story with adult characters, delightfully
entertains while delivering a strong life message about making do with what one
has.

3. "Are there clear illustrations that help tell the story?" The pictures are
critical. Ideally, they should be large, detailed, and dramatic. Those by Susan
Jeffers in "Brother Eagle, Sister Sky," based on an historic speech by a Native
American chief, offer a breathtaking example. They explain the vocabulary and
convey the deeper meaning of the story, that is, respect for our environment.

4. "Does it contain repeated, predictable language patterns?" Patterns can
include rhyming as well as repetitions of words, refrains, or entire sentences.
They provide a natural opportunity for pattern practice. Poetry and singable
books offer good sources. For example, "When I First Came to This Land," a folk
song/picture book about an adult immigrant experience, uses cumulative
repetitions, plus a repeated chorus.

5. "Does it use language only slightly beyond the level of the learners?"
When it does, it provides "comprehensible input," an essential ingredient for L2
acquisition (Krashen, 1982). Both the amount of text on a page and the level of
syntactic complexity should be considered. This judgment is quite subjective,
and it depends on teachers' knowing the learners and their proficiency levels.
For example, the illustrations and informal dialogue with children in "The
Wednesday Surprise" make it comprehensible to advanced beginners, while the more
difficult grammatical structures in "Roses Sing on New Snow" move it toward the
intermediate level, and the more poetic language in "The Star-Spangled Banner"
makes it more appropriate with advanced learners.

6. "Is there a cultural or multicultural perspective?" Books based on the
countries, cultures, and life experiences of the learners allow learners to
bring a wealth of personal knowledge to the text and to develop multicultural
sensitivity as they are exposed to the stories and struggles of various ethnic
groups. In "I Speak English for my Mom," a classic conflict is developed through
Rosa, an Hispanic woman who depends on her child, Lupe, as her translator.
Immigration and cross-cultural adjustment themes are increasingly featured in
picture books and young adult novels. "How Many Days to America?" tells of a
dramatic Caribbean boat escape, and "Children of the River," a novel, tenderly
depicts the conflicts in a budding cross-cultural love between two teenagers, a
Cambodian girl and an American boy.

CLASSROOM PRESENTATION

The shared reading process can be
divided into three stages--pre-reading, reading aloud, and discussion--that can
easily fit into a one-hour session.

Pre-reading (5-10 minutes). The teacher shares general reasons for reading
the book or specific listening objectives, such as identifying a particular
theme or structure; learners predict the story from the cover picture;
vocabulary is previewed, with realia, if possible; the class discusses topics
related to those in the book or in similar books they have read. These
motivational strategies engage learners in the book and help connect it to other
experiences, literary or real-life.

Reading aloud (15-20 minutes). To engage a class of learners in an oral
reading of a book, it is important to read with expression, slowly and
dramatically; pause when appropriate; move around the room, taking time to show
the pictures; modify the language in the book, if needed, to facilitate
comprehension; stop occasionally to highlight a new word or concept or to check
for comprehension.

Discussion and review (10-15 minutes). At the completion of the story, allow
ample time for discussion. To encourage spontaneous reactions, you may only need
to ask, "What did you think?"; or you may want to pose more specific questions
to focus the discussion. An oral comprehension check can serve as a review of
the story and as an informal assessment. If the story is short, like "Leo the
Late Bloomer," you can reread it, with students reading along chorally or
chiming in on the repeated phrases.

EXTENSION ACTIVITIES

Books initially read aloud by the
teacher can lead to creative, learner-centered literacy activities, from round
robin story telling to rewriting book endings or composing independent stories.
It is best to plan just one or two major activities per book, so as not to
dampen learner enthusiasm. With "I Read Symbols," a basic literacy class can
practice word-symbol associations in student-made concentration games. A
slightly more advanced class can work on story sequencing and play past-tense
Bingo after reading "The Gingerbread Man." A still more advanced class that has
read "I Speak English for my Mom" might rewrite the story from the mother's
perspective and then role play the various conflicts in the story.

During the extension activities, it is helpful to reread the book itself
frequently. This gives learners opportunities to read along with you and
eventually retell and read the story on their own, with the help of the
pictures. The book can also be made available for independent student reading.
For this, additional library copies are an asset.

CONCLUSION

Children's literature can be one of the most
effective teaching materials available for students of all ages (Smallwood,
1991). Using it to develop literacy is a well documented approach for elementary
students, both native and nonnative speakers. It is newer, but increasingly
popular, with adult ESL learners, especially in ESL family literacy programs.
Sharing literature creates a powerful bond between people. Plus, it is fun,
inexpensive, and fairly easy to do. For further development of this approach,
see "The Literature Connection: A Read-Aloud Guide for Multicultural Classrooms"
(Smallwood, 1991) and "Beyond Words: Picture Books for Older Readers and
Writers" (Benedict & Carlisle, 1992).

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